Life lately……and THE Minted.com winner!

The first two months of the school year have zoomed by at lightning speed

once again…..fall means both volleyball and soccer season for my girls

so that means dinners are on the fly or in a crockpot if I have my

act together, late nights finishing homework, messy bedrooms, lots

of laundry, hosting team dinners, playoffs, tournaments, teacher conferences,

Homecoming, Halloween middle school dance, pre-parties, post dance sleepovers,

treats to be made, costumes to help put together…….ALL I CAN SAY IS

SEND A MASSEUSE AND WINE, STAT!

My design business is humming along quite nicely.  I really want to

do a post about all that I have learned about design, working with

clients, myself etc….It has been a three year journey and provided blessings

that I will never take for granted……When I took the leap and started my 

own design business, I made a commitment to never try to be anything

other than myself and trust my instincts with how I wanted to work.  

Thankfully, that seems to have been the right 'business plan' for me.

As we approach the season of gratitude, I am thankful for the

clients near and far {e-design} that trust and 

hire me to help them in their homes.

I hope to find some time to work in my own home - it's feeling

neglected and when I recently had my friend Melaine from 

My Sweet Savannah visit, I sort of felt like all my unfinished 

and/or un-started projects were exposed…..hopefully she

doesn't do a post on how real bloggers live starring yours truly!

And finally - the winner of the $200 credit from Minted.com

is Mysha from the blog Remington Avenue!

Congratulations!!!  You should have gotten an email from me!

Minted to the rescue….a space in my home that have you likely have never seen before! (and a giveaway, too!)

I confess, I do most of my living in our home on the first floor.

Our second floor has just our girls' bedrooms, their shared bathroom 

and a bonus room that basically serves as 

the girls' hang-out space for when their friends

come over or they watch movies.  I hardly ever go up there - that is

sort of what happens when you have teenagers…..I know that it will

likely be a mess and I just don't need that negativity in my life ;)…..

When Minted.com asked me if I was interested in looking at some of 

their new art prints, I knew exactly the room in need of some improvement…..

our bonus room.  I actually have never hung a single thing on the walls  -

ok, stop, let's process that for a moment.  The lady with the obnoxious 

gallery walls has a bonus room with NO art……

Well, I thought if Minted.com hooked me up with some great art,

maybe I might be inclined to visit my children upstairs more often - ha!

I sent the Minted.com peeps a photo of my pitiful space and let them

choose the art prints they thought would look best.

So without further adieu, I give you my home's bonus space:

And I couldn't resist including a couple photos of one of the  upstairs

residents doing what they seem to do best……Cause it's important

for designers to show both form and FUNCTION.

Minted is such a generous company - they are giving one of YOU the 

opportunity to win a $200 credit so you can add some art to your artless walls too!

To Enter:

* Go to Minted.com

* Take a look at the art prints

* Come back here and leave a comment

telling me which art print

your would order with 

your winnings!

Enter by Friday, October 23.

I will announce the winner on Saturday!

Feast Portland

It's no secret that I love my hometown of Portland, Oregon.

If you have never visited, you must - or you could just 

watch Portlandia and get an relatively accurate portrayal of my

lovable, quirky city.  

One of my favorite things about Portland is that

it is a total foodie town - a city that appreciates culinary creativity along with

 good wine and craft brews.

Portland is home to some of the most creative

chefs, innovative restaurants, microbreweries, distilleries along with 

being situated near many wonderful vineyards in the Willamette Valley.

Our growing season is long and allows for an abundance of locally sourced produce.

This coming week, Portland will host FEAST PORTLAND - more than

a food and drink festival, Feast Portland is referred to by it's founders

as a "movement that showcases the energy, creativity and enthusiasm

that's driving America's food revolution while celebrating two of the culinary

world's most inspiring places: Portland and Oregon." Wow!  

Feast Portland takes place September 17-20 and includes main tasting

events, dinner series, hands on classes and 'drink tank' that will celebrate 

wine, beer and spirits…..

I am especially looking forward to attending the Widmer Brothers Brewing

Sandwich Invitational {Presented by Dave's Killer Bread}.  This event is the

Feast Portland's kick-off party where "wildly imaginative, cheffed up interpretations

deliciously redefine everything you thought a sandwich could aspire to be".  What?

A sandwich celebration?  Count me in!

If you are local or visiting Portland this week - you can checkout the full

list of events, locations, sponsors etc… At the Feast Portland website.

In addition to having a great time celebrating food and spirits, when you 

purchase a ticket to attend the festival, you are helping to end hunger

in Oregon and across the U.S.  Since 2012, Feast Portland has raised

over $162,000 to support Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon and the 

No Kid Hungry campaign which is part of the organization

Share Our Strength.  Win-win!!

I know that most of you come here to see pretty homes, bear with me,

this week as I am honored to have been selected as a local blogger to

provide information about and promotion for Feast Portland.  

I am receiving no compensation other than the ability to attend 

some events - How could I say no?  I love celebrating creativity, fun,

interesting, food, wine and beer!  Local peeps - won't you join me

to celebrate so much of what our city is about????

Yeah Feast Portland!

Shelf Styling with DIY Art….

Black and white abstract art has been making appearances in lots of gorgeous spaces.

The photo above is from Williams Sonoma Home.  The bookshelves are

styled beautifully and include Williams Sonoma Home's Abstract Brushstrokes.

When styling bookshelves for myself or clients I love the look of either

hanging or leaning art among the shelves.

With the change of seasons, I was inspired this weekend to quiet

the bookshelves in my own home.  I am a collector at heart but

was feeling the shelves had become cluttered and overwhelmed

with vintage items.  Craving a bit more updated and modern vibe, 

I wanted to try my hand at creating my own abstract art

inspired by Williams Sonoma Home photo above.

I have to say that I am pretty pleased with how they turned out.

I used acrylic paint on watercolor paper (I liked it because it has a texture to it).

The frames are from Michael's (and were 50% off this weekend).  I chose

to set the paper on top of the mats rather than behind them when I put

my art in the frame.  For whatever reason, I like this look better.

Simplicity - in the season of fall house tours, I choose to embrace simplicity.

It is what is working for me in this busy season.